Given what you're looking for in a boat, I'd say the Sea Tour 15 is perfect. I have one and it gets up to speed quite easily, and turns and tracks well. Hard to go wrong with that boat, I think, unless you are specifically looking for speed past 4 kts.

: Hello,

: I'm new to kayaking. I've spent some time on sit on tops, and some
: time in a very few sit in kayaks. The first kayak I sat in that
: made much sense to me was Nick Schade's Night Heron. I really
: like skinny boats. I'm not sure why. I'm told they're unstable.
: I was actually hesitant to get in one at first, thinking I'd
: immediately flip it or some other such nonsense, but when I was
: in it, it felt far more natural than wider, more
: "stable" boats did, as if it was part of my body, like
: a good sport bike, and it just moved and did exactly what I
: wanted it to do. I could drive my paddle down right next to me,
: and get a great push off, without having to edge very much, and
: when I did want to edge, it moved with me easily, not resisting
: like the more stable kayaks did. It made sense. Of course, it's
: also an expensive boat to build, incredibly time consuming, and
: I'm honestly afraid it might be beyond my skillset.

: Then I discovered Skin on Frame, and specifically, Yostwerks. These
: boats are beautiful, look simple enough to build, in theory (I
: just torched my first attempt, but I was also learning to use my
: new saw at the same point, and I've got enough plywood left over
: to start my next attempt without even buying another sheet :) )

: However, I've been reading a fair bit about the virtues of short
: boats. As I am not a very athletic paddler, and am more than
: happy bumping along at 3-4 kts, if that much, I'd pondered
: trying to put together a boat that's both short (